Volkswagen considers extending diesel incentives across Germany

Volkswagen is considering whether to extend trade-in incentives to owners of older automobiles in all of Germany, extending the program beyond the 15 most heavily polluted cities, a spokesman stated on Friday.

Under pressure to avert prohibitions of diesel vehicles in major cities, automakers have started offering trade-in incentives to support customers to scrap older diesel vehicles for more advanced cleaner vehicles.

A spokesman stated the responsible board committee is looking into a nationwide trade-in incentive for Euro 4 or Euro 5 diesel vehicles for a limited time period and is antiticpated to make a decision early next week.

Volkswagen stated in October it will offer purchasers of VW-branded passenger cars an incentive if they agree to scrap cars geared up with older Euro 1 to Euro 4 engines.

The trade-in incentive is presently limited to Germany’s 15 most polluted cities.

German daily Bild first reported that the automaker was thinking about extending the trade-in incentive to all of the country. The paper said information was still being worked out but the company would pay up to 9,000 euros ($10,200) per car as earlier envisaged.

German automakers have already agreed to invest up to 3,000 euros ($3,431) per vehicle to upgrade engine management software to make exhaust filtering systems more efficient, but environmentalists say these measures are not sufficient.